She had a lumpectomy and
radiation - but no chemotherapy - and continues to take the drug
Tamoxifen, which blocks the actions of estrogen and is used to treat and prevent some types of breast cancer.

Of her stage character, Cynthia said: 'She's really at the top of her profession.
She's a professor of 17th century poetry. She's the best; she knows
she's the best

'She gets a really bad cancer diagnosis and she goes
through this really heavy-duty chemo and she meets that challenge, but
she learns a lot about herself.'

Stark look: Cynthia unveiled her bald head this week on Live with Kelly

Blitz: The former Sex and the City star is promoting her new play Wit

Meanwhile, Nixon has also opened up about her sexuality in a candid new interview.

The star, who is engaged to her long-term partner Christine Marinoni - with who she has an 11-month-old son Max - says it was her decision to become a lesbian.

Cynthia - who was with former partner
Danny Mozes for 15 years and had two children, Samantha, 15, and
nine-year-old Charlie, with him - said: 'I gave a speech recently, an
empowerment speech to a gay audience, and it included the line 'I've
been straight and I've been gay, and gay is better.

'And
they tried to get me to change it, because they said it implies that
homosexuality can be a choice. And for me, it is a choice. I understand
that for many people it's not, but for me it's a choice, and you don't
get to define my gayness for me.

'A certain section of our community is
very concerned that it not be seen as a choice, because if it's a
choice, then we could opt out.

'I say it doesn't matter if we flew here or we swam here, it matters that we are here and we are one group and let us stop trying to make a litmus test for who is considered gay and who is not.'

Cynthia insists she hasn't always been gay and finds it 'offensive' that people say she has.

She told The New York Times: 'Why can't it be a choice? Why is that any less legitimate? It seems we're just ceding this point to bigots who are demanding it, and I don't think that they should define the terms of the debate.

'I also feel like people think I was walking around in a cloud and didn't realise I was gay, which I find really offensive. I find it offensive to me, but I also find it offensive to all the men I've been out with.'

Family: The star with her partner Christine Marinoni and their son Max in February last year